Tees Pride is working hard to make Teesside - and the wider Tees Valley regeneration area - a better place to live, work and do business.

But as well as driving forward the Tees Pride campaign, the Evening Gazette is playing its own part in the region's regeneration.

The Gazette Media Company, which owns the Gazette, is gearing up for an historic year.

And it's set to be one of its most significant years since the first Daily Gazette appeared on the streets of Middlesbrough on November 8, 1869,

During 2004 a multi-million pound investment in a brand new press will be completed, transformation of the paper to tabloid format will take place and new partnerships will be forged within the community to bring a new lease of life to its Borough Road offices.

"This is an exciting and historic year for the Evening Gazette," said Alastair MacColl, GMC managing director.

"It's also a year of growth and investment."

Work is now well underway on a new #14m press hall facility being built for the Gazette at Riverside Park in Middlesbrough.

Once up and running, the site will have some of the most up-to-date printing facilities in the region.

New technology will mean news, features, business and sports coverage will be packaged in an even more vibrant way.

The ability to print 128 pages of back-to-back colour will give the pages of the Gazette an ever brighter look.

And the new compact tabloid format will lend itself so comfortably to an easy read.

"This really is a unique year for the Gazette," added Mr MacColl.

"Few newspapers go tabloid during their lifetime - even fewer do that at the same time as a state-of-the-art press is being installed.

"It's going to be a massively exciting year for everyone."

"The investment represents a major commitment to our readers, our customers, our workforce and to the wider Tees Valley, allowing us to offer our readers and customers more colour, more flexibility and consistently exceptional quality."

Moving printing facilities out of the Gazette's Borough Road home to Riverside Park means new opportunities will open up in the town centre site.

Discussions are underway with a number of potential partners to use the space which will be created when the old press is finally dismantled.

Further plans will be revealed in the middle of the year - and be in place by the end of 2004.

Installation of the new press, which has been build in Preston by manufacturer Goss, begins this month.

Commissioning work will then start to ensure a smooth transition to the new facility.

"In late June we'll start running tests and then begin producing some Gazette products over at Riverside Park," explained Mr MacColl.

"September 27 is the day when our first full tabloid edition of the Gazette will be produced on our new press.

"Before then 101 different tests will be carried out to make sure the quality is exceptional once we go live."

The new #14m facility also opens up the door to new printing opportunities for Teesside.

"We are already in discussions with a number of organisations about print contracts," said Mr MacColl.

"And that includes national newspapers.

"Riverside Park can operate 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. And we want to make the most of the capacity we have."

There is more support than ever for Tees Pride in 2004.

And a record 22 sponsors have signed up to support the regeneration fight over the next 12 months.

Mr MacColl added: "On behalf of the Evening Gazette, I'd like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the sponsors of Tees Pride.

"A formidable group of organisations, working together to make things happen. Without their support Tees Pride would not have been possible."

The investment being made by the Gazette on Teesside comes at a time major regeneration schemes are taking shape across the Tees Valley.

"It's no coincidence that we are making big changes to the way we work at the same time as other major regeneration plans move forward in the region," said Mr MacColl

"There is a growing air of optimism and confidence in our determination to improve this region.

"The investment in the new press and move to tabloid demonstrates the confidence that we have in the Tees Valley and the regeneration of the area - along with the confidence our parent company Trinity Mirror has in us as a business.

"It's not just about supporting the plans to improve Tees Valley through the Tees Pride campaign, it's about getting involved.

"We are not just for Tees Valley, we are part of Tees Valley and the wider Tees Valley regeneration area, and playing our part to make this region a better place to live, work and do business."